


an ode to you

by basketoflightning



Series: one day we will be whole [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Spoilers, snapshots of pricefield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-21
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-04-27 10:44:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5045245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/basketoflightning/pseuds/basketoflightning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>they would kiss three times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	an ode to you

they would kiss three times.

* * *

 

the first time maxine caulfield kisses chloe elizabeth price, they are sitting upon a rooftop.

the two of them are no older than twelve -- well, max is, anyway. chloe holds the firm assumption that she is no less than twelve-and-a-half, thank you very much, and practically-a-teenager-already to boot. the feeling is not unusual; after all, chloe is the one usually ahead. ahead and waiting not so patiently for max, eyebrows wiggling. even in height, max can't remember the gap between them being any smaller. but despite fervent scribbling upon measuring charts, it seems not even a determined max caulfield can change what is set in stone. 

(not that it has ever stopped her from trying. and it never does.)

chloe's hair is not yet that striking shade of blue that suits her so well, but max has never needed that to see the colour bursting in her regardless. when she squints, sometimes max thinks she can see the whole spectrum of light. 

"close your eyes," chloe tells her, and there's something in her voice like hesitance. but not quite. 

max does, naturally. "why?"

"duh," chloe says, rolling her eyes. "you said you wanted to be kissed. like in the movies."

"i wasn't serious, chloe. for cereal. i just meant... it would be nice to know how it feels. one day."

"then stay still, dork."

"what do you--mpph!"

there is something wrong, because max can't finish her sentence. her eyes flutter open quickly. there is something blocking the way of her mouth. something soft and hard. something gentle and clumsy. something distinctly chloe-shaped.

"chloe!" max squeaks, but it's barely audible.

"i told you to stay still," chloe breathes back. for a moment, max does as she's told.

but then chloe pulls away.

"see?" the other girl asks. there is a relaxed grin painted on her face, but chloe's eyes look more worried than smug. "that wasn't so bad, was it?"

no, max thinks. it wasn't.

instead, she says, "uh, i guess not. it's definitely nice to have the practice for the real thing." 

it's not sudden when chloe looks away. not long after, the sun goes down.

* * *

 

it takes years for them to kiss again, but the world does not stop for preteen girls with matching hair slides and butterfly pajamas. nights come, one after another, and they only seem to get darker. chloe holds max when 'mr flash', her pet fish, is taken away 'back to the sea'. it is not long later that max holds chloe through so much more. the night of the accident, they curl up together under the same patterned duvet in chloe's bunk bed. chloe's grip on max's arm is so tight max thinks it will leave a mark there forever, but she does not cry out once. they don't let go of each other -- until they do. 

the marks only last a week or two.

* * *

 

_maximus prime,_

_you said you'd be back in a month or two, right? god, this sucks. i need you here. especially now._

_my mom says that i have to give you time. 'give it time'. that's all she ever says these days, honestly. i've done enough waiting, okay?_

_love,_

_chloe_

* * *

 

_big max,_

_seattle sounds nice. not like this ~~to~~    ~~pla~~    ~~piece of~~   piece of ~~trash~~   ~~shi~~   shit dump i'm stuck in. i think i hate it here. i can't wait for the day i leave for good. you'll be with me, right? i think my mom is going crazy_

_love,_

_chloe_

* * *

 

_dear maxine caulfield,_

_am i sending these to the wrong address? you haven't answered my last few letters. you good?_

_if you're not, you can tell me. and i'll steal my mom's truck and drive down to seattle to kick everyone's ass for you. so talk._

_anyway, ~~arcadia~~  hellcadia is still a fucking shitpit. just in case you were wondering. but i   ~~met someone kind of coo~~   started talking to this girl at school, rachael. don't worry, you're still my number one. even though you left me. but it's nice to   ~~have someone to talk to~~   know not everyone is a dickhead here. just get your cute butt back down here soon, yeah?  
_

_write back,_

_chloe_

* * *

_max,_

_your friends sound ~~stUPID~~   ~~boring~~  nice. maybe you could  ~~tell them to go to hell~~  bring one when you visit. you're going to visit soon, aren't you???_

~~_it takes you so long to reply to me_ ~~ _you must be really busy over there_

_you'll never believe this shit, max. this ~~guy~~ shitface DAVID proposed to my mom out of nowhere_

_she wants him to MOVE IN. like, with us_

_in our house_

_it's such bullshit. ~~it's been less than a FUCKING YEAR since dad died and she pu~~_

_such fucking bullshit._

_please come and save me,_

_chloe_

* * *

 

_max,_

_you didn't reply to my last letter again but it's cool_

~~_i'm_ ~~

_rachael is amazing. i wish you could meet her. it's like we want exactly the same things_

_anyway, yeah_

_chloe_

* * *

 

_dear ~~traitor~~ max,_

_stop pretending you're coming back_

_i ~~know th~~  we both know that you're LYING_

_have a good life,_

_your_ ex _-best friend CHLOE price_

* * *

 

_max,_

_ignore the last letter. bad night._

_chloe._

* * *

 

when chloe price sees max caulfield for the first time in five years, it should not make her heart flip.

of course, it does. it makes her heart flip and clench and squeeze and break all at once, as if every sad, pathetic romcom cliche hit her body like lightning. it's disgusting. and yet she can barely bring herself to be disgusted.

max looks... well, max looks the same as ever. all big, thoughtful doe eyes and freckled cheeks. it's true that chloe would know that face anywhere. it has always been true, even (no, especially) when chloe wanted it to be the least. every night chloe spent alone and afraid should be enough for... something. maybe not hatred, but at least resentment. at least not feelings that make hearts leap.

it's not.

"get in!" she calls out to max, and she isn't talking solely about the truck.

* * *

 

"my powers might not last, chloe."

time travel, as max has just about figured out, can be fucked up. but if there's one thing time is good for, it is learning from past mistakes. if there was any one reason for _max caulfield_ to be the one human-turned-TARDIS, perhaps this is it. and when max entwines her own fingers with chloe's price as they stand on the old train tracks, max decides she has a lot of homework to do. it is long overdue. 

"that's okay. we will. forever."

* * *

 

they kiss again. 

people talk a lot about first times, but it occurs to max that maybe they should be counting seconds instead. because when her lips touch chloe's, something heavy flies in her stomach that has been grounded for nearly six years now. and maybe twice doesn't quite make a running streak, but something turns.

"i dare you," chloe had said.

so really, it was her own fault. chloe was the one who had pointed out just how much max had progressed from being chickenshit. this was simply the icing upon the proverbial cake.

as max would note to herself hours later, the aforementioned proverbial cake tasted ever so lightly of blueberries. even as kids, they'd both loved the taste. max made a mental note to pick up a slice of joyce's famous blueberry pie from the diner later. maybe chloe would join her. 

* * *

 

time is collapsing in on itself, and it's max's fault. the world is a swirling sea of blood red stains and visions of the past and -- low-budget, artsy interior design?

"yo, pepsi max," a voice says, and chloe is smiling at her from the doorway. "honey, i'm home. and i brought pizza."

chloe scrunches up her jacket into a ball - that can't be good for the fabric, max thinks - and throws it in the general direction of their shiny, new coat rack. it had been a wedding gift from victoria (of all people) only a few months ago. saving her life from jefferson somehow equated to the right to ridiculously expensive furniture, evidently. time swirls and now max is standing in their apartment corridor, victoria replacing chloe's shadow in the entrance.  

"but we're not married yet," max had told victoria slowly at the time, frowning with confusion as politely as one could frown. "chloe and i... we're not even engaged."

"yet," chloe's voice had drifted in from the next room. "come at me, magic max."

victoria had shrugged, creating tiny creases in her cashmere cardigan. "uh, please. like the two of you _aren't_ already practically an old couple. i'm just making sure my debts are paid."

"you never owned us anything," max replies with sincerity, but all this earns is a snort from victoria.

maybe they'd never understand each other (but victoria wasn't a bad person, max supposed). 

"but buy us one of those swivel chairs next time," chloe calls again.

all too quickly, max's vision is obscured by patches of red and black again. she wakes up in the eye of a storm, light years away from a future that will never be.

* * *

 

_"you wanted to be kissed. like in the movies."_

max used to love the sound of the rain. tonight she is drowning.

"it's time," chloe says, and max couldn't agree more. time is the problem. it's always been their problem.

it is here that they kiss for the third and final time. their mouths touch, shivering, and max hopes the colourful droplets of blue running from chloe's dyed hair onto both of them will stain her forever. 

"don't you dare forget about me, max caulfield."

"never," max swears, and she means it.

 


End file.
